Calandrino’s cure—and his subsequent willingness to brag about it publicly—illustrate his lack of sense and propriety. Tessa isn’t taken in; her more advanced understanding of human anatomy, especially regarding pregnancy, miscarriage, and childbirth, is made possible by a society in which much of women’s healthcare was attended to by other women. Nevertheless, she receives collateral harm from the prank in the form of her sexual proclivities being made public and having her husband display his ignorance to the world. Yet she can do nothing other than complain, illustrating the narrow bounds within which women (even intelligent, sensible ones) were allowed to operate.